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Wandering Through Waco

When we moved to Texas we had committed to a four-month job with Amazon with no idea where we were headed next but that’s the life of a traveler. We have places on our bucket list but since we didn’t win the lottery and are not wealthy people we go where the money is. I swore when we started this process that we would always have jobs lined up before we moved, it was a good plan, just one we decided not to follow. One of our fellow campground friends had spent a bit of time in South Padre Island, Texas and planned to return after our time at Amazon. He spent nights talking about warm winter weather, the beach, and a decently priced camp ground. So with nowhere to go we said why not go to the beach and enjoy warm weather for the winter.

The trip was less than 600 miles but we wanted to take it slow since there were plenty of fun stops to make inbetween. Being new at lugging our home behind our truck we find shorter trips much easier on our blood pressures, semi-panic attacks and all around stress levels. As I mentioned before I always try to travel to any site of the National Park Service that we are close to so we couldn’t pass up our first stop Waco, Texas. We chose to travel on Christmas day which I also swore I wouldn’t do, I should just plan that if I say I won’t do it I will. We made the decision to be moving on Christmas based on the weather approaching, rain and possible snow, all things we don’t travel in. We arrived in Waco starving and it being Christmas weren’t sure what our options would be. I imagined gas station food as a new high on my Christmas memories. I really wanted Chinese food but we settled on Hooters. Hmm… Hooters on Christmas and I thought the gas station was a low. Don’t listen to me complain, I really am just trying to tell the story, I had an amazing day. Our campground was stunning and cheap! We stayed at Midway Park which is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers we were greeted with lovely weather and luckily we missed the snow in Boyd, Texas.

Waco Lake, Waco, Texas

I really enjoyed being back in nature so I picked up the camera, not just my phone and tried to really embrace the beauty of the campground. The squirrels were the only ones up for a photo shoot. We were sitting outside one afternoon as a deer just strolled by, in that moment you just have to enjoy it but I always wish I could capture it. Our deer visited multiple other times but since it was always at dusk the lighting is horrible for photographs. Sadie really doesn’t know what to think about all the new smells and is always hunting after what I call deer kibble. Storms rolled through one night with tornado warnings, thankfully all of the weather bypassed us but the storm put on quite a light show.

The next day we headed off to see what we could see. Being in Waco we decided to head out to Mt. Carmel the site of the Waco siege. There is a memorial on site but is off the road and located behind no trespassing signs. Since these folks were known for their guns we decided not to push our limits.

We managed to arrive at the Waco Historic Suspension Bridge just before the rain and cold took over the remainder of our stay. We were greeted with an amazing group of bronze sculptures located in the Indian Spring Park. The collection features three cowboys one white, one Hispanic, one Black and 25 cows, talk about an unexpected find, the Chisholm Trail Tribute is a must see.

I couldn’t pass up the chance to visit the Waco Mammoth National Monument so we dealt with the cold and got to see some Columbian mammoth fossils. There were twenty-four mammoth fossils found among other mammals, most of the fossils have been removed but the site where they were originally located has been preserved and used as a display that will truly let you take a step back in time, these animals walked the earth 67,000 years ago.

During rainy downtime we browsed Bass Pro and found a lovely welcome to Waco display, found some tasty food and craft brews at Crickets, and even checked out a location called Witches’ Castle of Cameron Park that we read about in the book Weird Texas.

Everyone meet Tabby, she loved the opportunity to snuggle on these cold nights in Waco. I was worried how she would travel but for 16 years old she seems to love all the new scenery out her bedroom window. Austin, Texas is our next stop with craft brews and more critters in our future.